“In reality, serendipity accounts for one percent of the blessings we receive in life, work, and love. The other ninety-nine percent is due to our efforts.”
~Peter McWilliams
Sometimes I agonize over my characters’ names. I spend hours looking online, searching for the perfect name with the perfect meaning and the perfect origin. Other times, a name pops into my mind and – BAM! – that’s it. The character couldn’t possibly be called anything else. That was the case for my MC’s daughter. Sofie and Brandon named their little love Eliana Rose, Ellie for short. It’s a name I’ve adored forever, even more so now that Ellie has become a book-baby so near and dear to my heart.
So when, within fifteen minutes of arriving in Cape May on Monday, I saw an advertisement for a quaint, charming place called Ellie’s Bakery … well, how could I not be excited? Finish the first draft on Friday, discover this place on Monday. That has to be a sign, right?
I may or may not have forced everyone to drive there … and take my picture in front of it … and watch me take pictures of the sign … and listen to me yammer on about serendipity’s magic. But seriously, how cool is that? We’ve never been to Cape May before – we usually vacation in other shore towns – and I can’t help thinking that I was meant to visit this place at this time. I am a big believer in creating our own destiny and finding our own luck, but still, this twist of fate totally made my day.
YAY!!
Cape May, I love you. Serendipity, I love you even more.
Shari Speaks 
That must have been such a surreal experience! It was almost fate that you saw Ellie’s and stopped there. :)
It was! Pretty sure my eyes just about bugged out of my head when I first saw the advertisement for the bakery in a brochure — such an awesome coincidence. It makes me smile every time I think about it!
Sometimes the stars align just right and send us the sign that we were looking for to reassure us that we are moving in the right direction. Love this!
I couldn’t agree more — and there is nothing more special than getting the sign we need at the time we need it most :)
Ooh. For some reason, just the bit of the bakery we can see in the window makes it look so delicious. I’m suddenly craving homemade bread.
It did look delicious! I wish they’d been open when we stopped by so we could have bought something from inside — though, now that I’m thinking about it, it may have looked a little strange to everyone that I was taking pictures out front :P
Ha! Of course, if it’s a tourist town people will understand. Tourists take pictures EVERYWHERE here. Seriously. The other day, hubby, Sunshine and I were out for a walk, and a couple of tourists left Denny’s, walked down a side street, and started taking pictures down the street – I think because of the cliffs behind all the houses, trees, and telephone wires. Sometimes tourists will stick their heads out their sunroofs and film mainstream as they’re driven down it. You just never know. Nothing’s too weird to take a photo of in a tourist town.
P.S. People probably just assumed your name was Ellie, or that you were taking the photo for someone named Ellie. Which is kind of true. :-)
Awww, I love this … definitely kind of true <3
(And as ANOTHER side note: I've always adored that name, but even more so now. Would it be totally weird to use it for a future child one day after already using it for a character? :P)
Ooh, that’s a good point … I don’t know if the shore towns around here are considered touristy, per se, but they are definitely vacation destinations, so the same rules should apply ;-) As a side note, it must be really neat to live that close to such beautiful cliffs. I can only imagine how picturesque it is!
Well, if you ever want to come see for yourself, you have a place to stay! :-)
As for using the name for a baby someday, I’ve always loved it, too, and I don’t think it would be weird at all. It would probably have extra sentimental value, actually, and it would be cool for her to say where her name came from. Plus there are lots of names you could use and then shorten to Ellie, like Eleanor, Elaine, etc. Then she can choose what nickname she wants to go by later (even if you continue to call her Ellie).
I love the idea of using it as a nickname. In fact, the little girl in my book(s) is actually named Eliana, but everyone calls her Ellie. It would be fun to do something similar in reality (plus, Gram’s name was Elaine, so that option would add even more sentiment).
Okay, potential name added to the list … now all I need is the actual child :P
Details, details… :-D
That is literally right down the street from my boyfriend’s parents’ house! What a small world. Love the name :)
Ah, how funny is that? Definitely a small world! Have you ever been to the bakery? We never got a chance to go, but it looked fantastic!